Caroline Watts, a practicing child therapist and Penn GSE’s Director of School and Community Engagement, shares how parents can address questions and fear around the virus.
Kids are going to have questions and fears about the COVID-19 virus.
Caroline Watts, a practicing child therapist and Penn GSE’s Director of School and Community Engagement, says parents should be prepared to address three areas:
“First, the health and safety issues at hand. What information and behaviors do we want to teach our kids?
“Secondly, I think about the emotional tone of things. How anxious am I? How anxious is my child? How anxious is the community they’re in? How can I help them feel stable, safe, and secure while also taking this very seriously?
“Third, I think about the context. This virus has brought out a lot of ugly rumors and prejudices, often directed at people from China or other Asian countries, as well as at Asian Americans. I want to make sure kids know that the virus doesn’t pick targets based on ethnicity."
Watts shares her suggestions for how parents can convey those messages to their kids in a thoughtful way.
On the move: Water quality and antimicrobial resistance testing goes mobile
Penn researchers have developed a mobile field laboratory allowing them to test water quality and track antimicrobial resistance in and around San Cristóbal in the Galápagos.
Penn researchers Vanessa and Alexis North are studying one of the largest collections of Egyptian blue objects ever found in the ancient Near East, shedding new light on how the world’s first synthetic pigment may have traveled far beyond Egypt.
A new role for dental providers? Rethinking where vaccines are given
Vaccinations have traditionally been administered in primary care settings or pharmacies. However, for about a decade, some states have authorized dentists to administer vaccines, and many others did so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effectiveness of this approach has led some countries and states to expand or consider expanding the role of dental providers in delivering routine vaccines, including those against COVID-19 and the human papillomavirus (HPV), and in providing vaccine education.
Penn student develops a way for computer chips to run more efficiently
Fluid Silicon, a platform from President’s Sustainability Prize winner Nhlanhla Mavuso, allows computer chips to continuously monitor their health and self-tune as their characteristics change. The technology has the potential to reduce energy usage in data centers and improve reliability in mission-critical applications.
